And then you're dead : what really happens if you get swallowed by a whale, are shot from a cannon, or go barreling over Niagara / Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty, PhD.

Includes bibliographical references.

What would happen if ... -- You were in an airplane and your window popped out? -- You were attacked by a great white shark? -- You slipped on a banana peel? -- You were buried alive? -- You were attacked by a swarm of bees? -- You were hit by a meteorite? -- You lost your head? -- You put on the world's loudest headphones? -- You stowed away on the next moon mission? -- You were strapped into Dr. Frankenstein's machine? -- Your elevator cable broke? -- You barreled over Niagara Falls? -- You couldn't fall asleep? -- You were struck by lightning? -- You took a bath in the world's coldest tub? -- You skydived from outer space? -- You time traveled? -- You were caught in a human stampede? -- You jumped into a black hole? -- You were on the Titanic and didn't make it into a lifeboat? -- You were killed by this book? -- You died from "old age"? -- You were stuck in ...? -- You were raised by buzzards? -- You were sacrifices into a volcano? -- You just stayed in bed? -- You dug a hole to China and jumped in? -- You toured the Pringles factory and fell off the catwalk? -- You played Russian roulette with a really, really big gun? -- You traveled to Jupiter? -- You ate the world's deadliest substance? -- You lived in a nuclear winter? -- You vacationed on Venus? -- You were swarmed by mosquitoes? -- You became an actual human cannonball? -- You were hit by a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State building? -- You actually shook someone's hand? -- You were the ant under the magnifying glass? -- You stuck your head in a particle accelerator? -- You were holding this book and it instantly collapsed into a black hole? -- You stuck a really, really powerful magnet to your forehead? -- You were swallowed by a whale? -- You took a swim outside a deep-sea submarine? -- You stood on the surface of the sun? -- You ate as many cookies as Cookie Monster?

"A gleefully gruesome look at the actual science behind the most outlandish, cartoonish, and impossible deaths you can imagine What would happen if you took a swim outside a deep-sea submarine wearing only a swimsuit? How long could you last if you stood on the surface of the sun? How far could you actually get in digging a hole to China? Paul Doherty, senior staff scientist at San Francisco's famed Exploratorium Museum, and writer Cody Cassidy explore the real science behind these and other fantastical scenarios, offering insights into physics, astronomy, anatomy, and more along the way. Is slipping on a banana peel really as hazardous to your health as the cartoons imply? Answer: Yes. Banana peels ooze a gel that turns out to be extremely slippery. Your foot and body weight provide the pressure. The gel provides the humor (and resulting head trauma). Can you die by shaking someone's hand?Answer: Yes. That's because, due to atomic repulsion, you've never actually touched another person's hand. If you could, the results would be as disastrous as a medium-sized hydrogen bomb. If you were Cookie Monster, just how many cookies could you actually eat in one sitting? Answer: Most stomachs can hold up to sixty cookies, or around four liters. If you eat or drink more than that, you're approaching the point at which the cookies would break through the lesser curvature of your stomach, and then you'd better call an ambulance to Sesame Street"--